Safety 2018 Opens a New Era

Safety 2018 Opens a New Era

The annual conference in 300-year-old San Antonio is the coming out party for the newly christened American Society of Safety Professionals.

Jun 04, 2018

SAN ANTONIO — The new era of the American Society of Safety Professionals is off to a very successful start here as the society’s first annual conference with that new name and brand has welcoming thousands of safety and health professionals to this city’s downtown. San Antonio is celebrating its tricentennial this year.

Safety 2018 PDF Chair Mary Silva, CSP, welcomed attendees to the opening session June 4 to the 57th annual conference and said it has attracted a record number of attendees and exhibitors, with representation from 30 countries around the world. Silva’s portion of the session included a short video about an ASSP Foundation-sponsored research project studying how fatigue from workers who must move heavy weights in awkward postures contributes to musculoskeletal injuries. The researchers have published five papers on their work so far and are now engaged in turning their research into practical guidance.

Jim Smith, the outgoing president of the ASSP, went through a list of accomplishments by the society during his year as president, including publication of 22 standards — the most ever by the society in a single year — as well as creation of LearnEx online learning courses and of the Council on Academic Affairs and Research, which Smith said is the first new society council to be created in more than 20 years.

“Our new name truly reflects the diversity of our membership,” he said, and allows the society to grow. “Our society has incredible name recognition, not only across the country, but around the world.”

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